The Sun. — London, England, 1838-02-06 00:00:00

for their conduct as stewards of the people in their demand for a Legislative_ C ounc il, an d f or t h e i r conduct in 'aniere lug that demand by stopping the sepiatee f or five, years-:. and two years only—My Lords., I will teiVie to show that they hese Inen faithful stewards to their billy nissters in the 'relationt in whi c h th e y s t oo d - -tie p eop l e o f Lower Canada. I must beg you, My Lords, in the consideration of this twitter, to look hack with me into the Colonial history of this country, in is der that we may find out what is the real matter in dis bUte. Your Lordships, I have no doubt, perfectly under . wand the Colonial history of this country, and you IthiStl therefore, know, that from the very beginning of that history, there has been a differente and bickering Which on many occasions has amounted to eluresi, open quarrel between the mother country - sun the colonies. I must entreat sour Lordshies to excuse me if I take you back t o an al most tory '3o+ - ndefin e e ' d period of our c oloni a l his ( " ' --, my Lords, f o r th e p urpose o f per f ect l y .."Sersfendin g t hi s di spute, it is necessary that I Itittid do so. My Lords, when the Canadas first because connected with this country, it was set flown as an indisputable right that they were to he an independent people, subject only to the Crown, and bound only not to make any laws repugnant to the laws of Eng- ' land. My Lords, so long as those countries remained noeS, —so long as they were struggling for existence—so long as they did not present a wide fief for for the patronage of the Colonial Office, they 'sere left almost entirely to themselves, but so sows as they had raised themselves into importance —SO soon as that field was opened, when it became at all a question of patronage—then, and ittnnedi",tely then, the mother country began a quarrel. 'De e quarrel t oo k place on the extent which they as an in depereleet nation; could carry on peace and war, and could traifel Wt . ] commerce, without reference to the laws of the Mother country. The mother country settled the dispute quickly, because the most powerful party she mad e h er navigation l aws , an d su bj ecte d h er American colonies to those laws. But still, my Lords, at this time the gover nors, and all the official officers also, *ere elected by the Colonists, and they had also theft' Commons House of Parliament, which was elected by the people. Until the reign of Queen Anne, these Governor's and all their feteeittiw officers, and all their judicial officers, were paid Y the toloniste, The s e were elected by the colonists in the first place, but the Crown determined that it should no longer be 80., and in the reign of King William the Co verlets-et were first chosen by the Crown, In the reign of Qtkeen Anne they found the inconvenience of the Judges Said Executive Officers being paid by the people ; and the demand was first made which is now made, my Lords, of the Canadian people. The quarrels first began between the colonies and the mother country tespectitig the power they should have over their official servants. The power de- Mended was that they should have a permanent civil list for the Executive officers-. This was refused, and if your Lord ships be curions in such history I would refer you to the dis pute batieeen Burnett, the Governor of Massachusetts, and the V . epresentative Assembly of that colony, upon that point ; and you will find an appeal from the Assembly, and one from the Governor, in which the question of the Civil-list i 4 18(It forth, and they claim it as one of the most important privileges that they should pay their Governors and their Judges. lip to the year 1728 they never were subjected to the degradation of having officers appointed by the Crown, uns paid by the Crown, who had to render service to the colony. Soon afterwards the war broke out between America and England, which ended in the subjugation of America to England, and which, in 1763, was terminated by the annexation of Canada to Great Britain. Up to this period there had been constant bickerings between the mother country and the colonies, in reference to their Ceovernment ; and so soon as the war ended, the officials bf that country, who disliked responsibility to the Assembly of that country, endeavoured to make common cause with th e people of England to interest the Ministers for their concurrence, and to give to them a pretext for interfering sith the sub-Government of the Colonies. How did they do this ? They told the Colonies they ought to main tain themselves, and to defend themselves, to which all were agreed. But they further said, they ought to submit to have their money taken from them, and by the Parlia ment in England. In an evil hour Mr. Granville listened to those statements, and passed a famous enactment which was expressly passed in order to provide for the Civil Government of that country. The con sequence was, that our own purely English Colo nists,—no French Colonists,—but our own English Colonists, determined to resist that law by force. It was repealed in consequence, but it was repealed with a pros iso that England should hav e civil power to legislate for the Government of the colonies. Mr. Charles Towns hend soon after brought in his famous Bill, still for the civil government of the colony, imposing certain duties upon various commodities imported into that country. The colonists agitated the question still, and their indig nation was raised, as your Lordships will find by all his torians, by the appropriation of the money—l wish your Lordships to bear in mind this fact s --(Hear, hear.) It bears strongly on the present question—their indignation was raised by the appropriation of the money, the appropriation being for the providing a permanent Civil List for the Governor, the Executive Officers, and the Judges of the Colonies. My Lords, that Bill also i'as repealed, with one exception ; 3d. per lb. was retained still on tea, and that Act the English Government endeavoured to enforce. As your Lordships all know, the consequence was that tea was thrown overboard at Boston. The Boston Port Bill was passed ; and, by an ominous coincidence, a Bill was brought in for the better regulating the Go vernment of Massachussetts. Whet did that Bill provide ? It provided a Legislative Council to be chosen by the Crown, in place of an Elective one by the Bill. It provided the Governor should have certain power, and should b e pa id b y the Crown—that the judges and the sheriffs should be ` also chosen by the Crown. What was the conduct, my Lords, of America on this occasion ? Revolt, rebellion, revolution !—successful revo lution-aLtho dismemberment of the empire—the disgrace f i f the Ministry who brought in this Bill, and the liti- Miliation of England. And why, my Lords, do I Mention to you these painful facts ? Why, but that you may learn something fi oni experience— that you should take something from the pket, and apply it to the future. My Lords, compare the conduct of the forbearing, patient Assembly of Lower Canada with the heated, enthusiastic Assembly of Massachusetts— English were the latter—French the former.—(Hear, hear.) But the latter declared rather than bear the Constitution which you have given to the Canadians as a Precious boon, which they have borne for half a century with patience unexampled in the annals of a free peo- People—compare, my Lords, the conduct of one with the forbearance of the other, and tell me now 'whether you are obeying the dictates c' prudence in not Likin g a lesson from experience, when you know that the Bill for Massachussetts lost you fourteen united provinces, such as you will never have again, for an object, precisely such as that you are now endeavouring to carry out ?—and I ask you, my Lords, to determine with me, whether the punishment you are about to inflict on my clients is at all commensurate with that which your fore fathers endeavoured to inflict on the rebellious colony of Mas sachusetts, which led to the dismemberment of the empire 4 and now may have the same fatal Consequences ? My Lords,s I ask this question of you ? Did not the people of Mas-1 sachusetts rebel, because you wanted to create a Legisla tive Council to be chosen by the Crown—because you i wanted to have a Governor chosen and elected by the Crown, and Judges chosen in the same way ; and I want any man to ;holy me—in the conduct of the As sembly of Lower Canada—any one act which amounts to any such conduct as that of Massachusetts, Which amounts to any thing but a use of the Constitutional Power which you gave them—which amounts to any thi ng but f or b earance and a ju,t proceeding. Let history, my Lords, answe r the question. I will relate that history in as few words as pos s ibl e , and then I will ask your Lordships nethe r the punishment you are about to inflict, careless of the experience of the past, is at all commensurate with H'';ly supposed devi a ti on o f propr i ety en the part of the ' ouse of Assembly, and whether y o u are not gu ilty o f ,lus i Justice before an y impropri e ty has been committ e d ? M y Lords, it s well k nown t h at b e f ore 1791 a C onst i tut i on e Z_ il 'een given to Canada. In 1794 all the revenues were liege up by the people—there was no real suppression of thisrerievenues on the part of the Assembly till 1816 ; for V si _s an sson, the Civil Government was provided fdr by' into t he and the House of Assembly, whet? , it inquired t e expenditure, was answered taus : You on pay .the expenditure, but England does. You have that l une to do with how the money is expended, all 4 fr ir You have to do with is with reference to the internal 8 of the country". The Assembly of 1810, knowing th 4t the rover paid by the Canadian people, asked .ues were eXpenseill o that y ear to b e a ll owe d to pay t h e c i v il th at s f their own country. In 1816, my Lords,. , I ', W as granted, and then the old disputes wham aisp't,`":e described as existing commenced afresh—those Ass s were between the officials on the one hand and the fo r l it tn i tilY on the other—the officials demanding great pay val ent lt° service, and the Assembly requiring service equi th, A to the remuneration vvilich it gave. No sooner was ;Ilse t h sse4) , bly allowed to pay the expenses of its officials Man ' 3 ' begin every species of mystification end subterfuge. of arl,Petitions were presented to Parliament complaining the Le ttr :aly gosernment in consequence of the conduct of I,,eisiaetgcstative Council, which entirely suspended all useful '-eer i , ' ln . And in 1828, a Committee of the House of /3° ttse ° " was appointed, which I beg to recall as a mos Itial ed „ePeeli in the history of Lower Canada. The Committee sse r 4, 4 t of , the grievances complained of by the House of • at the Y, the following were the most important :—First, i th t i i ''''!'eislative Council having no interest in common interests of the people, and deciding upon all It in, for the second time; the H ouse o f As - ntbP.7 auged grantiog the siipPlies, sayiii,;---we will appeal to the Paiiiament of England to know if they will aanaioii cOiidiaci-r- - Conauct, that citild be disgraceful to 1 4 .! tll6'sa kinU plaatid in the situa t ion ofColonialSscretary. They diclso—they refused t he sup plies, and this was the last time of their refusal. The last ti me iris in iBsL—gaitisay it if you dttre. They appealed to the English Parliament again, but one of those strange things took place Which are occasionally wit ressed in this country. Your Lordships all know that in the end of the year 1834, the then so called Liberal Administration was displaced, and Lord Aberdeen was appointed Colonial Secretary. Lord Aberdeen determined to send out a Commission to inquire. __ But before this determination was r i pened before Lord Aberdeen could act upon it, the poor colonic• were subject to a change—again they had a new master, and its place of Lord Aberdeen Lord Glenclg was appointed. Lord Glenda• determined to seize upon tins idea of a Com mission—too good ti thing to be lost—delay was admi rably forwarded by a Commission. Lord Gosford was made Governor, and then was continued that system of deceit— that system I hardly know whether I dare to use the right words—l don't think I dare in this assembly—that system of deceit, I say, of hypocritical pro' lion, with a determination of no performance, w as practised on the Canadian Assembly. But, my Lords, it was my duty to expose this plan of deceit to the English people. I have exposed it once for all, and I willingly leave the disgusting subject. Suffice it to say, that in spite of their arts and mean devices, Sir F. [lead, whose ctourderie has hitherto been farcical, though it has lately led to tragical results, published his instructions, and thereby dis covered the intentions of the Colonial Minister, and the de.. ception practised upon the Assembly of Lower Canada. The Assembly, therefore, refused for the present to pay the arrears due to the public officers. But in order to prevent further in convenience they voted a six months' supply, and again ap pealed to the Parliament of England. At this period of my argument, I must request you, my Lords, to take a retrospect of this history, At the outset I told you that if there had been ill conduct, such as deceit, vacillation, non-fulfilment of en gagements, petulance and low arts of deception and intrigue, I would show the Assembly not to be the guilty parties, but that I would fasten the guilt chiefly upon the agents of the Crown. Have I not fulfilled my promise ? You are constantly told that the people of Canada had since 1828 had all their grievances redressed, and yet I have proved to you that in spite of all sorts of boastful promises and professions, th e great grievances complained of in 1828 still remain. The Legis lative Council was as bad as ever. The judges were still wholly dependent on the Crown, thus poisoning justice at its source : the revenues, the growing revenues of the country were withdrawn from the control of the Assembly, while the only step towards reformation was the performance, in 1831, of a promise made in 1794. But these three great grievances, the parent source of all the sufferings and all the Canadians, were the grand subjects of complaint in 1828. They still remained in their pristine vigour, and yet are we told that all was redressed. But during this period what had been the conduct of the Assembly ? Did they act in heat and with passion? Did they call in question the dominion of the mother country ? Did they, like our English colonies, pre pare for armed resistance? No, my Lords, they did none of these things, but they said, we arc tired of this state of things, we have the constitutional power of regulating the supplies ; and although we will carry on the Government, we will not recede from our demands, will not concede to our opponents that which they seek to tear frosn us, before we learn the defi nite determination of the Imperial Parliament. Did this conduct deserve punishment ? Was there here any abuse of power ? How can any one assert that by such proceed ings the Constitution was suspended. Peacefully, calmly, the Assembly appealed to the great governing principles of that Constitution, and waited with confidence to see them pro duce their legitimate effects by the assistance of the Imperial Legislature. The expectations of the Assembly were, how• ever, doomed to a bitter disappointment. I now arrive at the eventful period of 1837, and the Parliamentary proceedings respecting the Canadian difficulties. The Commissioners of the Crown sent home voluminous reports, which are in every one's hands. I will not now stop to describe them. They have been condemned by all parties, and need not my helping hand to consign them to their due place in history. But now came the grand determin at i on o f t h e Mi n i sters, which may be briefly described thus ;—.they flatly refused to amend the Le gislative Council by the mode of election ; they gravely as serted that the Legislative Council required reform; and they thereupon determined to seize upon the money of the colony lying in the provincial treasury, and to apply it as they thought fit. Here was the first, the most flagrant, vio lent breach of the Constitution—a breach, too, of solemn promises made in Acts of Parliament—promises made ex pressly to our North American colonies, and expressly on this very point of application of the provincial funds. We never, even before our experience gathered in the American evolution, dared to try so bold an experiment upon the patience and forbearance of any colony. Here was collected together, under acts passed in reliance upon England's honour, money the produce of three years' taxation; safe as the people of Canada believed, because guarded by the authority, and sanc tion, and guarantee of this country, they slept secure, although dr treasure was in the hands of others, because they believed those others, honest as well as powerful, and because they had our pledged faith and honour that we would never appropriate it without their approval. Alas, alas ! for England's honour— alas 1 for our character for common prudence or common honesty. When we passed those fatal 'resolutions we set a dangerous and fatal example of disregard of public faith and public morals. We shook all men's faith in the most solemn compacts, and taught our subjects to believe that whatever we had the power we should believe that we had the right to do ; that we placed ourselves above all moral rules, and decided upon our proceedings solely with reference to our own immediate power and expedi ency. Let us not then complain if others do as we have done, and imitate but too successfully the example we have set. Remark, however, the forbearance, the prudence, and the firmness of the Assembly at this pressing juncture. Ame rica, under circumstances far less exasperating, had at once rebelled, and successfully resisted our attempts to assert our dominion. The kind feelings of the Canadians were not so easily shaken. Although their near neighbeurhood to the United States rendered their situation in case of revolt, that is, preconcerted and deliberate revolt, far more hopeful than was that of America formerly, still they did not call out for re hellion, or prepare for resistance. They believed that the strife would be one of no ordinary horror, and they shrunk from the responsibility of beginning it. Still they determined not to yield wholly and without compromise ; but they did de termine, seeing the determination of Parliament, forhepdroei sent to forego th e i r d es i re o f an e l ect i ve Council, provided that the promise of r e f orm con t a i ne d i n t h e reso l ut i ons of the tw o Houses of Parli amen t was f u lfill e d. Th e people, however, :ermined to try what they could do by legal means to shake the resolution of the mother country. They said, " If you determine not to do us justice, we are not hound to be your commercial customers, and we %s ill learn to depend upon our own re sources." In imitation of the Americans in 1774, non-inter course was established, and they also resolved to settle all differences by arbitration of judges appointed by themselves These last resolutions were of the people, be it remembered. The Assembly met in August, 1837, and, to their astonish ment, they found the Governor asking them for money, threat ening them with the resolutions of the Parliament if they re fused it ; and at the same time they discovered that he had done nothing to soften the rigour of this proceeding, by ful filling the promise of reforming the Legislative Council. Their answer to this demand was—" l'erform the proinise of reform, and then ask us for money ; until that promise is fulfilled, we cannot entertain your demand." Had that promise been ful filled in its true spirit, I am prepared to prove by evidence at your bar, that it was the intention of the Assembly to have v t the supplies. adduce this evidence, and your Lordships shall judge whether they who, through negli gence, or some worse reasons, did not obey the commands of Parliament, are the persons who ought to be accusers in the matter; whether the accused are not the innocent— whether the accusers be not the offending parties. I here solemnly charge the Minister of the Crown, the Secretary for the Colonies ( Lord Glcnelg) with being the author of all the calamities which have resulted from this fatal be trayal of his duty. Whether it was indolence, incapacity, heedlessness, neglect, or intentional,disregsrd of duty, it i" not fur me to inquire. I see the result, I know the cause ; and I call on you, my Lords, if you seek to punish the guilty-, if you desire to make answerable those who have disturbed the peace of the empirs, have led to the slaughter of her peaceful subjects, have introduced the horrors and calamities of war he into the peaceful vales of Canada, to look to the culprit who sits besides you, to call on the Ministers of the Crown to . a r already s w e r this e x c i h s tairngge by allowing not, ng t this entreat dreadful you, m measure r t e o t n h e e vr m u l s i? e ?n s your table to become law, and thus render confusion and dis memberment of the empire almost inevitable. Punish guilty, spare the innocent. Throw out this Bill, which, h m a r ak i e nju i s ) t is ice d t e o fe m ne y e cl u ie p n e t n s, athn)rdebeidgtrhaNceMainn(iistesreleomf solemn charges. e _ Some of you, my Lords, may smile at this idea, but be assured that posterity, and the world at, large, will affirm the judo ment which I have ventured to pronounce. I have now, my Lords, brought to a close my history of the Assembly's pro -. ceedings. As soon as the address was passed, to the effect that . I have described, they were unceremoniously dismissed, with out further explanation or application. Since that moment the. Assembly which this proposed measure is to annihilate ha' had no means of acting. The members composing it, returned to their homes, were scattered over a t e rrit hC o a r rv y o-i'ts above 800 miles in extent, and are not collectively answerable fur anything that has happened since. Looking back then, my Lords, again, have I not made oat my first proposition. vie , that the conduct of the Assembly has throughout bee" wise, firm, forbearing, and Prudent? Spite of all the various provocations they received (and I have passed, of necessity. over many, lest I should tire your patience), spite of all the trying injuries heaped upon them, spite of disc ointment 01 all the most c h er i s h e d hopes, they never swerved from their path of duty, and always evinced respect and obedience to. England ; and yet are we now about to reward their ge nerous zeal for their country, their confidence in us, their respect and attachment to our dominion, by degrad ing and insulting them amid their country, making them an object for the scorn and contempt of the whole con- Linent of America. If this be prudent, it is not just, it is act generous. The world will wonder, I fear, at our rash ness, as well as our injustice. But it may be said, it is true, that the Assembly are not to blame, but the people have re belled, and rebellion must be punished. And what so fit r• punishment as depriving them of that power of self-govern ment which they have abused ? The answer to this assertion is : —First, the people have act rebelled ; but a portion, small portion, of the whole broke out into a riot in cense- f ?„Testions of reislietion in that country; it was necessary 'Unit the Cot.knen should be so remodelled as to deeerve this confidence of the pV6ple. , hey alto Cilienanded that the Governor sh ou ld rot h'encetorth be allowed to take out of the teroY - inktla t e chest moneys Without their consent, thus iehbldg the public Exchequer ; and that 4ie Judges should be rendered inderudent of the Crown, and that justice should :to long er b e p o i sone d at its Sotiret 1%4 Vords, the Committee decided; ie B ece ne l aN . , , c with all e these dereande, And iiaevett Very st rong censure upon th bileno 440,.' lliment. It has been said, I am aware, and Pioliably many of your Lordships lat e ly heard it stated, that all the gri evances of Aida . the colonists complained in 1828 have been redressed. Now, my Lords, I as sert that not one of these capital complaints has re ceived the slightest alleviation —that all these grie vances exist in their rampant and pristine vigour ; that the Legisletive Council by the authority of all par ties—by the testimony of every one—by the testimony of the Crown Commissioners—by the testimony of your own resolutions, is at this moment unworthy of the confidence of the people. Furthermore) I will prove that m o n ey h as been taken ou t o f the t hest of the people, vithout their sauce tion—ethat their btollequer has been robbed. I won't say more from 'respect for your Lordships ; but I go farther and will say that the judges are in precisely the same situation now—that they are dependent on the Crown as heretofore. And if I make out these facts, I sh ill make out that the complaints are purely without founds ien, and that the conduct of the House of Assembly, in order to get rid of those complaints, was the only course of conduct which the Constitution afforded. My Lords, after 1828, and the Report passed by that Committee, great expectations were raised in the minds of the co lenistc expectations of a new era. They fancied that now their grievances were about to be redressed, and they waited patiently for the conduct of Ministers. In the year 1831, to shew their confidence in the Ministry— to shew how completegy they were persuaded that the honour of England would still be maintained—they determined to do that, which would maintain that which they supposed to be a species of compact—. they passed a Bill in 1831, which made the Judges independent of the Colonists, by making their sala ries permanent. Now, this is a point always slurred over by all the ministerial defenders of ministerial deeds ; but I will adduce the authority of the then Go vernor to show what was the conduct of the House of As sembly in 1831 respecting the Judges of the land, and will show to your Lordships also the expectations of that Go vernment of what would be the future consequences if that raft of the conduct of the Assembly were not given effect to. the then Governor was Lord Aylmer. Lord Aylneer wrote to Lo r d G o d er i c h on the 26th ef January, 1833, the following dispatch.—[The Hon. Gentleman proceeded to read the dispatch. It commenced by stating that the writer, on the 15th of December, 1831, had the honour of communicating to his Lordship a message sent down by him to the House of Assembly, calling upon them, in obedience to his Lordship's directions to make a permanent provision for the salaries of the Judges of Lower Canada.] The message was referred to a Committee, who brought up a report on the 28th of December. That report was taken into consideration by a Committee of the whole House, and it was resolved by a majority of five, the numbers being 34 against 29, that the whole of the Judges should be disqualified from having seats in the Legislative Councils, no exception being made in favour of the Chief Justice. The exclusion of the Chief Justice would, under the instructions of their Lordships, render it impossible to sanction a Bill containing such provisions, but when it was again discussed the objectionable clause was lost by a majority of 34 against 24. The Bill for making the Legislative Assembly into a Court of Impeachment passed the House of Assembly by 13 to 42—the Bill subsequently passed the Legislative Council without a dissentient voice, and it was taken to be a sign of a good disposition on the part of the House of Assembly. With regard to the Chief Judge having a seat in the Council, that question was given up for a time. The Bill did not receive the Royal Assent, because Lord Aylmer conceived it to be so contrary to the instructions upon which he was acting. Yet he used these remarkable words in his dispatch :—" At the same time I take leave, with the utmost submission, to recommend the Bill to the most favourable considera tion of his Majesty." And the grounds upon which he made that recommendation was " That in my opinion at no time can we reasonably expect that we will get a Bill passed, or the dispute settled upon such favourabl e terms." Then, with respect to the same Bill, the same Governor said .‘ I cannot avoid noticing the Bill for establishin g the inde pendence of the Judge. I think it necessary at the same time to inform you, that although the principle of this Bill coincides altogether with the views of his Majesty's Govern ment, it contains one or two provisions that impose on me re servation until I know his Majesty's pleasure." Now this pro phecying of Lord Aylmer is fulfilled to the letter. That Bill was refused—it never passed the House of Assembly after. Lord Aylmer told the House of Assembly it, agreed en tirely with the principles of his Majesty's Government. He told his Majesty's Government they had made great conces sions to pass it ; that unlike the people of Massachusetts they did not break out into open rebellion when asked for further information relative to the Judges, proving them selves, therefore, more patient and forbearing than our English descendants there. They passed the Bill—it was refused ; they never passed it again, and why ? I will tell your Lordships —and I wish your Lordships to bear in mind this, and what followed, because you will understand then the state of mind that arose in the colony immediately after. At the same time that they passed a permanent salary for the judges, they refused a permanent Civil List. The then Colonial Minister determined to lay his hand on certain revenues, and out of them to pay the salaries of the Governor, and certain other officers whom he chose. That was the first item that caused discontent. That outrage was remarkable in all its circumstances. Three citizens were shot, persons not at all concerned in the riot ; and no means of redress were afforded to the people whose fathers and brothers were shot, and the military who shot them were thanked in general orders by the Governor. Whereupon the House of Assembly said, even with an nual salaries we cannot get justice ; with perma nent salaries it would be impossible. Furthermore at this time various • communications took place with the Governor, concerning an alteration in the Le gislative Council. All oyes were turned on it, and the people said—Now we shall have a proof whether the Government at home, know the means of redressing our grievances, by putting into this Assembly men worthy of our confidence, or whether they are de sirous of shaking that confidence further. The al terations made in the Legislative Council gave very great offence to the people. They saw clearly that the men put in were not intended to alter the composition of that body. All the evils of the old body still ex isted. They said, we have a Legislative C ounc il an d Judges s till t h e same independent of us, but dependent on the Crown ; and we have our revenues seized by the Colonial Minister. My Lords, these were the three complaints made by the Canadians in 1828. They refused, therefore, to provide a Civil List ; but in the year 1833 they passed an Annual Supply Bill, and that Bill was thrown out by the Legislative Council. Thus commenced the war of refusal of supplies on the part of the Legislative Council. The year 1834 came—the House of Assembly called upon them to provide a permanent Civil List, which they re fused ; and furthermore sayina , that none of their grievances had been in any way redressed. They said we hate :pplied to the Crown—we have applied to /be King's Ministe rs , b u t a ll i n vain. We will n o w apply to-Parliament again, and then in 183-i, for the first time, they refused supplies. Expecting that the Legislative Council would act as they had hitherto done in 1834, and apply to Parliament for redress, petitions were sent over to this country, one to this House, and one to the House of Commons ; the latter of which I presented, and upon which I moved for a Commit tee of Inquiry, which Lord Stanley, who was then Secretary of State for the Colonies, refused. He made a motion of his own, and a Committee according to his desire was appointed. That Committee did nothing—they made inquiries, but" they came to no Report. Why did they not ? My Lords, lam going to speak of men in high station. lam going to describe conduct disgraceful to any man, whatever his situation might be. Mr. Rice was then Colonial Secretary, by one of the shifts and turns so rife in this country—those political changes, which turn out one Ministry and bring in another—one of those changes something like a phantasmagoria box—ore of these changes, my Lords, inflicted upon the Colonies a new Colonial Secretary —Mr. Rice, in the room of Lord Stanley. Mr. Rice desired not to be hampered by pre determinations ; he indulged in vague liberalities, but lie made one definite promise to the agents of the Colony and myself—that the servants of the Crown and the people who had not been paid, should not be p lid without the sanction' of the Assembly. My Lords, at my su;gestion, and I beg pardon of the Canadian people for having induced them to place faith in a Cabinet Mini s t er, t h e agents believed th i s Lords, we h a d scarcely left the office before i p t ro %s m ,a i s se ' broken ; and a dispatch, dated almost the same day, was sent out ordering the authorities there to pay the sa l ar i es which had been refused by the Assembly ; and Lord Aylmer did pay them, and in 1833 came down to the Assembly, end asked for (as we understood) a vote of the 31,0001., which had been taken from the public chest. Now I beg of you to mark this peculiar case of assisting them to go time. I b eg your Lordships at ; e long Minister rai se d expectations which he knew n would to on for The a be raised by th e l anguage he used, but lt . which he was determined never to fulfil. He made: uromises the most solemn that any m an i n suc h a pos i t i on could make ; and he brought them to a belief in those promises with the facility of dicers' oaths. He dis ippointed them—indignation was the consequence of that disappoint ment—resistance the consequence of that indignation ; and tiii,:' stthi, L.p..11.)0.N, ki UTINDAVI .. ftiIittIARY 6, is3B. pence of what-they conceived a crying injustice committed by the authorities. NeXt, in this riot there was no abUse of the powers of self - government—there was n o connex i on b e= tween the Assembly - and the eitst, The riot took place merely in consequence of some proceedings which the people thought unjust, and which they resisted: The people, in fadt, had re eisted the reecetion of - certain writs as he had no doubt their ,Lordships knew from the tieWipapers'. There vies evidence that tar 9oyernment had knowledge of the preeCeralnee of the deople for a length of time l onfere they chose to take any men have d :e; n otice of it ; at last, howe ver , they sc, disco ered that a conspiracy existed somewhere, and their me thod of taking measures to provide for the public safety rsas curious. They forthwith dismissed a number of offi cers of militia, much in the same way as a certain Go vernment had once dismissed Earl Fitzwilliam from a high situation for attending a meeting for the Reform Parliament;of nearly in a similar way to this were those officers of militia dismissed for attending a meeting, and Hong with them were dismissed also a number of magistrates ; and a new Commission was issued, leaving out almost all in whom the people had confidence. Their Lordships must un derstand that just at this Juncture the Jury Act had expired, leaving it in the power of the Crown, by means of the Attor ney- General, an offiCer of the Crown s and a pp o in te d, pa i d, and dismigsable by the Crown, to ifels just whomsoever he pleased to serve on juries. Just at this tune, Lord Giosford issued warrants against persons on account of acts ddmttlittki three nonths beforo a thoea were directed chiefly against M. Ilapi ecau and his associates, but lief agairiei hi. Papineau himself in the first instance, though very sign&arii tHrtiinr was .riven that it was intended to issue a warrant against pinean shortly. Such are the facts of the case; and were your Lordships called upon to disfranchise a borough, or to deprive a Corporatirn of its charter, upon such a case, you would g ive a flat refusal ; and yet here in a case where the outrage upon existing vested interests is for more marked and extraordinary, there seems no hesitation. Compare the con duct pursued with regard to the Canadians with that to wards the people of Bristol. A dangerous riot occurred in that town, yet nobody thought of depriving the city of their representatives nor of their charter. Look at the daily riots of Ireland—whole counties, not parishes, de clared to require martial law, and yet there is no proposal to deprive Ireland, or even the disturbed counties, of their repre ,entatives. Take again a yet more striking case—Scotland in 1715 and 1745. At that time the whole of Scotland was on the side of the Pretender, and actually in willing subjec tion to him ; and yet Scotland was not deprived of her repre sentatives. Even the supposed parrallel case of Boston affords nothing like the present Bill. An outrage in that case had been com m itt e d ex p r e ss ly a g a i ns t t h e aut h or it y or , Parliament s the whole people of the provittee of Massachusett's Bay ape plauded the rioters, and refused to give them eel, and turned out in arms to resist the Government. Yet then, all that was praposed to be done was to give to Boston a Constitution simi lar to that which Lower Canada now has. There was no at tempt to destroy their means of self-government, their House of Representatives remained, but the Council was now to be chosen by the Crown instead of being elected by the people. The truth is, my Lords, and we cannot hide it from ourselves or the world, this riot is but a pretext. The Ministers found that the Government of Canada, with its present Constitution, was a ..ainful and difficult matter, and they took advantage of the fright which this riot created in Parliament to persuade them that the source of all this confusion and terror was the House of Assembly, the fact all the time being, that the imbecillity, the vacillation, and deception adopted by the Mi nisters were the true causes of the disturbance. Pretences were wanted to cover this disagreeable filet, and the riot came opportunely to their aid. Nevertheless, it may still be insisted that some change is necessary, because the populations, Eng; fish and French, are divided and hostile, and the French ma jority are said to oppress the English minority. Having thus proved the injustice of the proposed measure, by describing 'anctdefending the conduct of the Assembly—having, as I be lieve, successfully justified that much-injured, much-calum niated body, and repulsed the various attacks which malice and ignorance combined have made on it, I now proceed to that part of my duty which is comparatively light and easy. I am no longer on the defensive; I am about to attack the so called healing measure on your Lordships' table, and to prove it to be for good purposes wholly inadequate, while for mischief it is but too potent and effective. Let us, at the outset, clearly understand what the measure is, and what it is intended to effect. The Bill is called one for the Government of Lower Canada. Difficulties have arisen in the Government of that colony—difficulties such as I have been at some pains to de sscribe ; the machinery created by the Act of 1791 has been found not altogether perfect; the Assembly has exercised its powers in a manner to give offence; and you are in conse quence called upon, to do what? Amend the faulty parts of the machine? so to arrange the now conflicting powers of it, thot it may p rocee d to i ts accustome d an d useful work ? No, 'my Lords, this is not what you are now asked to do. The !bright idea of mending the machine by first destroying it has `Suggested itself to the Colonial Minister ; and because the [ 'great mass of the Lower Canadian population are already .somewhat displeased with the treatmnnt they have received at cur hands, it is deemed the height of wisdom to take a step which will inevitably increase their discontent, and render their allegiance the result of physical coercion, and not spon taneous and affectionate attachment to our dominion. Now, my Lords,- must presume to differ entirely from the policy of this proceeding, and I will at once endeavour to show your Lordships how all the present difficulties attending our rule will be greatly aggravated by this fatal measure—to point out to you the portentous evils with which it threatens us, the dire calamities which must of necessity flow from it. But still it may be said, something must be done. I allow it. This admission, however, does not yield anything in favour of this Bill. The measure makes bad worse : where under present circumstances you have one difficulty, under this brilliant specimen of Colonial Legis lation you will have to encounter a hundred. When I have proved all this, my Lords, I will go one step further, by showing that it is wanton mischief—that a dangerous path has been chosen--that you have, while a safe one 'was open to you adoped a course in which you have the 'danger of war, in which you certainly incur enormous ex pense, which will probably produce calamity with ou t li m i t , and yet attain no security for the future—that you do this, when it is possible with ease to a ll ay a ll di scontent, without incurring any danger of hostility at the present time, and also to provide for our future security from any evil that may threaten us in consequence of the great and rapidly increasing power of the great federal Republic of North America. The Bill, in the first place is a temporary measure. You suspend the Constitution of Lower Canada till the year 1840, and in the meantime you send out a Dictator. The question immediately arises—in what better condition do you suppose you will be in the the year 1840 than now ? What do you suppose will take place when the Constitution revives ? Will not the same difficulties which now beset and obstruct it revive also? But we intend to provide against them. By what means ? And why are those means at once adopted ? Why do you not now amend the Constitution in place of destroying it ? You know the whole case. More information ca nnot be obtained. Why;then, then, delay to act ? Why ? Because they who have the power have not the courage to face the real difficulties of the question. This sending out a Dictator, thi s temporary sue pension of the Constitutio n , is a p art o f t h e old system which lids produced the present crisis. The great object of all Mi eisterial endeavours seems to be to stave off a difficulty. Man fully to grapple with it requires courage, requires knowledge ; and courage and knowledge are qualities, unfortunately, which are far too rare in the rulers of mankind. At this moment the Ministers of the Crown are reduced to this dilemma—.either they know what ought to be done, or they do not. If they do know what ought to be done, there is no need of delay ; if they do not know, they never will. Let us not, however, hide the ruth from ourselves. s. They who have governed England and her colonies for the last ix years h ave a l ways been halting between o tw opinions, and subject to the influence of tw o sorts o f prin ciples diametricay opposed. They have obt a i ne d power under th e guise of liberality—under the promise and pretence of re form. They have endeavou re d to retain power without any fulfil ment of their promises. The consequence has been that their Go - vernment at home and in our colonies has been one conti- They oave a ll owed expectations to arise that nued shuffle. they determined not to satisfy. Th ey seek to make men Idse upon hope , and themsel ves d es i re to en j oy all the odour of liberality. Discontent, however, attends disappointment, and all our present difficulties in Canada are the result of dis content and anger, raised by the diqi.ppointment of hopes pro duced by this unwarrantable system of promise without per -formance. Habits, however, are not easily eradicated ; the Ministers of the Crown will not take lessons from experience and are determined to continue their old game of procrasti nation and delay. But, my Lords, I appeal fe irlessly to your common sense, anti to your honour and hone4v, and I ail: of you, possessed as you are of all the knowledge which the case affords or requires, whether it would not be more prudent, more honourable, more honest, at once to say what you will, what you will not do, to satisfy the wishes of your colonists? Take your measures like bold, like honest, min; tell us what they are. Establish your system of colo nial rule—that system to which you determine to adhere, and at once frame that machine of colonial Government which you believe to be the best one. Do this, and there is no need to susp en d t h e Constitution of Canada. Change it, if you so determine ; but do so at once, and do not fly to sub terfuge. Do not come with hypocritical pretences of sor row—hollow lamentations over the necessity which com pels you to act, and under the guise of sham liberality per petrate this cryiug outrage against common sense and com mon honesty. If you intend permanently to destroy the Representative Government of Lower Canada, say so at once, and do it avowedly and openly and do not, I entreat of you, adopt the poor, the paltry screen of saying that you suspend it only. If you do not intend to destroy but to amend it, let us at once know what those pro nosed amend ments are. For your own sakes--for the seise of that cennee tion between this country and the Colony—which all in this House and most of those in the other House of Parliament prize so highly —I beseech you, my Lords, to adopt this manly, this hon est course ; for depend on me when I tell you, that the mom ent this Bill becomes a law, all hope of any peaceful maintenance of that connection may•at once and for ever be discarded. I know the people of whom lam speaking ; I know the circumstances by which they are serrounded, and without hesitation I assert, that they will deem this measure one of great, of unmitigated injustice; they will consider it part of a system, and that system they will believe to have for its .obj ec t t h e establishment of such a colonial dominion ac will leave them but the shadow of freedom. They will feel that this measure is an insult, as well as injury ; it will de grade them in their own esteem—it will degrade them in that of their neighbours. They will make comparisons between their own position and the happy situation of the free citi zens of the United States, and they will, while they im precate curses upon the rule under whi c h th e y are com p e lled for a ti me to crouch, look with longing eyes to that mighty people who dwell near to them, and will in secret cherish 4; •' T C:i ', Dit ; : : 7 \ '711; future better government of Cana, of a Convention ; and the Member- o fcp, Lower , Canada arc to be elected ega, e `o that country. Now at this moment I will *"... • ' 6'ff 0 the wisdom or folly of this proposed arrangement, but I call attention to this remarkable circumstance. The very same pin - sons—viz., the Ministers of the Crown—who drisad the Opening of the Parliament of Lower Canada, whon dread also a nele election, yet have no fear of calling the people together for the election of Delegates to a Convention. It is obvious, then, that they do not fear assemblies of the people ? Wnat, then, do they dread ? And 'why do they not allow the Noble Lord who is to go out as paefileator after peace is established—why not allow him to call tog,j l ler the Parliament ? I heard a whisper and a suggestion in did other House o f P ar li ament , w hi c h to me explained the mystery. There will be some plan devised to narrow the cenEituency of o , at country, and the ignorant meddlers in politics, who have .ltitherto ruled the destinies of that unfortunate country, are so I.Lucl as not to see the consequence of such an attempt. You aeel told, my Lords, t'-at all the wca'th of that country is in the haetels of the Eng lish, and you believe what you are told. Now, itear my ver sion of the story ; all the real wealth of the country - is in the hands of the agricultural community, and they for t:ee moss part are French, while the pretended riches of the merc.hants of Montreal and Quebec, who are chiefly English, are me're , - show than reality. Few are rich—few arc solvent; and the , ' real cause of their furious outcry is the dread of bank-' ruptcy in peaceful times. Create a riot, and to be a bank. ; rupt will not be dishonourable. Keep the country quiet,' and, if they break, then men will scan closely the honesty of those who have deluded their creditors. However, make your electoral qualification higher, try the experiment, and you will not have one Englishman in your new Parlia ment, Your only chance is by extending the suff, age ; but. this does not accord with notions predominant here, and we are all lent too prone to fancy the rest of the world I:ke ourselves in every particular. The Noble Lord who is about to go en this mission of supposed peace will find all his pl ins of good enined by the suspicion attendant on this Bill. He is popular, it is said in this country. I suppose that he is known to the people by sonic great achievement in their favour, by some great service rendered them. But to the Canadian people he is unknown, except as the dictator who strode over the ruins of their Constitution, and the near connection of one they deem their bitteeest enemy. He may surround himself with pomp and parade--he may enact the Viceroy, and play with what or vigour he plea Lees the farce of mock royalty ; b u t when he sends thi s Bill as his harbinger, be assured that he will play to empty benches ; he' Tvtll be no popular favourite ; and, though a star from Londors, the provincials will not run after him. Scme few fools nay gape and say, " God bless him !" but the national feeling will be such towards him that no man need envy him his , power, even with all its tinsel concomitants ; nor will I.e, if he have the heart of a man, long stand up against the concentrated hatred and indignation that will on all occasions break out against him who could seize this unhal lowed sceptre, and consent to play the dictator over an in jured and be!pless people. Perhaps in the day of his failure he will remember the words uttered this night. But what, then, ought to be done ? Let me answer that queston in one sentence :—Do justice to Itiada. You wish to retain your dominion ; you wish to maintain: peace ; you desire to have your Colony a profitable possession. If you wish these things, reign over them with justice ; but jt,..stice here means grant the demands of the people. What are +,.4e;' ? Freedom are in this from irresponsible rule. The interests of Engleetei the same as that of the Colony. England gains noteing by an irresponsible Legislative Council. Give the people A Go vernment which shall provide fur their interests anti for yours, and mot for those of the hungry band who have so long preyed upon the vitals of the Colony. 11)w is this is be done ? As follows :—A careful and provident Statesman would in all his measures respecting the present Government of Canada keep a steady eye on the future destinies of the Coloi:,v—would be careful so to arrange his plans as to render it impossile that any junction with the United States and our present colonies should ever take place. The present con dition of those provinces gives you an opportunity of doing both the things which you now reek to effect, viz., to allay the discontents of the lower and sipper province, and provide against the extension of the power of f S. United States. The mode of allaying the discontents of Canat;o I last year pro pounded to the House of Commons, and have lately again set forth to the head of her Majesty's Government. That plan contemplated the abolition of the Legislative Council, and the creation of a Council of Advice, to be chosen by each succes sive Governor. By this means resposibility would be fixed upon a single person, who would have all the advantage that could be derived from advice. In order to protect the genoval interests of the colonies and England's interests, it was pro- ' posed that there should be a General Assembly composed of persons elected by the various Legislatures of the different colo nies ; that by a wsitten code the powers of this body should be cicternained--one of their functions being to hear impeach ments ;ireferrA by the Colonial Legislatures. Besides this body, it was mposed to institute a superior court of judica. ture, to try all juJicial questions between the several colonies, and such as should are from calling in question the limits of the powers exercised by Geecral,Ass e mbly an d t h e seve ral Colonial Legislatures. Such a machinery as this would keep your colOnies one compact body—world keep them sepa rate from the United States, and when the tereie comes, which must come, in which they are to heindependent of our domi nion, they might form themselves into a northern cemfedera tion, balancing and contesting the powers of the United States of America. Such, my Lords, is my plan of pacification, to which no objection can be brought- but such as results either from misconception of the real ins rest; of England. or a too nice perception of personal interest. But, before you decide upon this or any other plan, I woad beseech you, my Lords, gravely and seriously to inquire into the benefit nhich you hope to derive from opposing the gene ral wishes of your colonists, and then to set against this sup.' pj - sed benefit the real evils which you have, by obstinately opposing yourself to the just wishes of our subjects. At this moment every one of you must feel that war with the United Sta'es has been risked by this insane quarrel with our colonies. No greseer calamity could happen to mankind than such a war, and yet have we heedlessly, may I not say criminally, incurred the danger of it, and for what? To maintain a wretched band of heavy officials in the possession of ill-used as well as 'el-gotten power —to shelter a few peculating servants from the just indignation of their robbed and insulted masters. This; my Lords, is the real end of all our great expense, of all our , loss of money, time, and blood, the magnificent object farwhich - the darling hope, that the fortune which ever pursues injus tice, even though she be halt, and lame, and slow, will yet inevitably overtake it, and bring with the turn of her fatal Wheel sit opportunity of punishing their oppressors, and tindicating their own honour and freedom. I speak prophetically, my Lords," not as one wishing the misfortunes to nneland whith I note predict e, but be you assured that no w , in scorti and Contereptuoua disregard of worthy men and worthy feelings, iff! Pi‘e sowing Seeds of discontent and resist ?eise_i which some day not Mt distant, we Shall gather into our garners With !sees of sorrow and te , f shame. it is the fashion, eve Lords, to talk of the ignorance of the Canadian pFeple ; aa d asse ,eions are recklessly hazarded, which greater know ledge of the people iner.l their actual condition, and also of the true criterion of education, would altogether have prevented. We are prone to believe that America and Europe arc the same, and to fancy that the agricultural serfs who in Europe form the mass of the inhabitants find a counterpart in the in dependent possessore of the soil in America. Never was there committed a more gross or ft more fatal error. America at this moment is governed by the habits of thought and feeling [catered, perpetuated, and extended by that remarkable band of religious and political enthusiasts who criginally settled in. New England, and whose sons now swarm in every part of the federal union of the United States. The political creed of these men has, in reality, become the political creed of the whole continent, and is entertained as well by the descendants the French colonists on the banks of the Mississippi and the h. Laverenec, as by the immediate heirs of thoaa English who originally seized and settled on the shores of the flUdsesn or the Coifnecticut. Yuu are treated often with dissertations upon the feudal laws and burdens exist in Canada. Belietv me, my Lords, when I tell you that a foetal schism is unknown in that country; that ihe people are ndt driven but persuaded ley their leaders, and that the influence of' Papineau and his friends at this moment is precisely the same sort of power as that poseessed formerly by the Adamses, the Joneses, the Warners, and the Washingtons of America. How do I prove this? I do so by stating two facts, for which I challenge and defy contradiction. Let any sei g neur change his present po litics, and take part with the oppressors of Canada— let the priest of the parish preach the same doctrine, and then let these two persons combined go to a poli tical election against a Liberal candidate, and I will abide by the result. The seigneur and the priest will fail. Why do I assert this? Because the experiment has been tried and failed. Well-known instances must suggest themselves to every one conversant with the affairs of that county. But if this be so, what becomes of the assertions concerning the ig norance of the Canadian people ? Do you usually find an ig norant and dependent peasantry turning a deaf ear and refus ing obedience to the commands of their territorial lords, and their priesthood combined ? Never. Such a phenomenon was never seen. But in America, where the farmer is his own master, living In great plenty and celtsfort, and surrounded by circumstances which tinily eall for great activity of mind, of great ingenuity, under novel difilcultiee, which task his se gacity in the application of means to ends, the former, I say, who is thus situated acquires habits of independent thought and action; he listens to him who comes armed with reason and with facts, and despises any attempt which would subject him blindly to authority. Talk not to me of reading and writing as the only interim of education ; I have seen many a farmer who knew nothing of scholastic learning, yet was well read in the book of nature and experience, whose judg ment was far more sane and accurate, whose sagacity was far more acute, and whose mind was much more thoroughly euarded against the assaults of prejudice and superstition than those of many a learned but still ignorant book-worm, whose only knowledge was the pretended science of the schools. Furtherance, nay Lords, when we speak of ignorance, let us realetnba)r this fact, the moment that the means of scholastic education were placed within the reach of the Canadian people the whole population at (meg availed themselves of the advan tages thus offered to them. And let us never forget that they who are ever harping upon this ignorance of the Canadian peo- ' ple, the Legislative Council, in the year 1836, did from political hate, and to serve their own base purposes, deprive 40,000 children of the means of instruction, by shutting up the na tional schools. And this ignorant people have cherished and .will cherish the memory of this wrong, so that when the day of , retribution is come they may not forget the punishment due to the crime. I now, my Lords, invite your serious consideration .of the peculiar condition of the American continent, so that ,when you have well weighed the various and extraordinary cir cumstances there existing you may be able to form some thing like an accurate and vivid conception of the probable effeete of the proposed measure, and the influence that it is likely to have upon the future peace and security of our American colonies. Any person who should for the first elate look upon the map of North America would naturally have his attention irresistibly attracted to that immense ter ritory which stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific across the whole Continent, and which extends from the Gulf of' Mexico to the chain of lakes which have their outlet to the sea by the St. Lawrence. His astonishment would undoubtedly be created if he learned that this immense and fertile tract, si tuated within the most favourable degrees of latitude, possess ing every conceivable natural advsntage, belonged to a people teaching one language, and united under one government. His opinion of the pourer of this people would be undoubtedly greatly rased when he also learned that the whole of the va rious sections of this stupendous country were self. governed, and that the people took every precaution to increase and im prove their own education and that of their children. His ideas of this people's greatness would receive no diminution when he learned that their commerce extended to every realm, and that every improvement in science was by the ingenuity and enterprise of the people immediately on its becoming known applied to practical purposes —that by this means a system of road, railroads, canals, was there to be witnessed which defied the world to parallel it--that steam with all its wonders had there almost its birth, and was there certainly hourly ex tending the dominion of man over nature. Would he not ex claim when he was told that this gigantic potter was only in its infancy—Woe unto those who shall cross this mighty people in the hour of their meridian greatness ; and blind must be those statesmen•of other nations who, if they have the power, ne glect the means of creating a counterpoise to such a domi nion ! Such, my Lords, however, is the United States ; and the influence of her opinions is already paramount upon that continent, and affects the habits of thought and feeling of every inhabitant of its boundless regions. Now, the leading dogma of this people's political creed is, that all men ought to be self-governed, and they look down with ineffable con tempt upon all who submit to the domination of others. The Canadians, living in daily intercourse with the bold-think ing and free-speaking Republicans, have necessarily acquired their habits, and adopted their political dogmata. What will be the necessary consequence of your depriving the Ca nadiaus of that highly-prized privilege, viz., the right of self government ? You will at once excite the indignation of the whole population of the United States, and create intense sympathy with the suffering, and, as they will call them, the oppressed and enslaved Canadians. Not a newspaper among the millions that circulate within the American territories but will contain violent philippics against you and your enact ment. You at ill be unable to prevent these papers circulating throughout the Canadas. Besides, you cannot prevent the expression of opinion reaching the Canadas through per sonal communication. Every trader coming front America will exhibit his indignation of the oppressor, and his sym pathy for the reluctant, and contempt for the willingly suf fering and submissive. Deep shame and bitter hatred, and cherished hope of revenge, ample and immediate, will be the inmates of every Canadian bosom. Your armies may for a while enforce obedience, but a thousand accidents may at once, and for ever, drive you from the continent. Any dispute with America, which shall again, as in 1812, bring her armies on your frontier, will not find you with a population en thusiastically attached to, and ready to die fur, your do minion. No : in place of this, the Americans would find the Canadians stretching out their arms for succour, crying with piteous voices and bitter wailings and curses, " Aid us in throe ing off the yoke of the oppressor. Come, brave and generous people, sympathise with cur wrongs, and alleviate our misfortunes." Your dominion will end. Should any national calamity occur which would cripple our power and our resources, they will, if possible, rise in open rebel lion, and again would they stretch out their arms and cry fur succour from the already sympathising Americans. My Lords, this is no idle fancy of my brain—no fantastic product of a heated imagination. At this moment the picture that I have drawn may be seen in the life. You are told, and I be lieve truly, that the American Government sincerely desiies peace with England; but in America it is the people that govern. There you cannot neglect or contemn the popular feeling ; neither can you easily suppress its working. Is not the federal Government at this moment powerless in its attempts to put down the excitement now existing on their northern frontier in favour of the Canadians? This excite ment has been created simply by the fact of revolt agai'ast the mother country (for as yet they knees , nothing of this measure of revenge). Their own revolution is ever in their thoughts. The cases, in their opinion, seem almost iden cal, and they believe that the God of the oppressed bids them aid and assist the Canadians. The revolt, in spite of all theAe formidable difficulties, may be suppressed ; but where is your security for the future ? Your at ell-trained soldiers . may defeat the rebels, but they cannot convert them into attached and faithful subjects. Every act of this fatal tra gedy only renders more certain the painful and, to us, humi liating result. Hostile separation and war with the United States will some day inevitably follow. Then, my Lords, see what follows. This already too gigantic power will add to her Union the whole continent of America. They are shallow po liticians who cannot see the immense temptation which is held out by the free navigation of the St. Lawrence to all the mo ther states of the Union. The very question which, of all others, appears most likely to create dissension in the Union, viz,, that of slavery, renders, under present circumstances, the annexation of the Cenadas, as a collet Tpoise to Texas, almost inevitable, un .ess timely and wise precautions be taken by England to prevent ie Ceti such precautions be taken ? Do any means exist by which this fatal junction might b prevented and our dis contented colonies firmly attached to our dominions? illy Lords, I think there are such means, and to those means—to that measure which ought to supersede the direful experiment you are about to venture, I will almost immediately apply myself, and shortly describe it, as the best apology I can offer ao your Lordships for the trial I have made of your patience and attention. I would, however, before Ido this add a few observations upon the consequences likely t ) result from the precious specimen of legislation before your Lordship. It is clear that this suspension o': the Canadian Constitution is rot needed for the suppression of the revolt. It is clear also that the Noble Lord who is to be the dictator of Canada is net to employ his powers to that end, otherwise he would proceed immediately to his government, and not await the coming- of fine weather in the spring. Except, then, for the purposes of vengeance, the objects of this Bill aro all prospective. By the preamble as it originally stood, and also by the instructions to Lord Durham, which have been printed, we are told that one of the means which his Lordship will adopt for the ./7 we have stayed all improvement in Canada, • for which we now seek to outrage the feelings of the whole continent of Ame rica, for which we have already risk; the chance of the most disastrous calamity which ignorance tied wickedness com bined could inflict on mankind. Is not this, my Lords, a magnificent requital for such a risk ? And Are we not, by cur procee.'iings, exhibiting to the world a scene humiliating to the national character for sense, for honour, and generosity. To you, my Lords, as the supposed guardians of our ancient honour, I appeal to save us from this degradation and disgrace:, (The Learned Gentleman, after reading out in a very audible tone part of a protest recommending conciliatory measures to be pursued towards the Colonies, a protest which had been entered on their journals by some of their most illustrious ancestors, among whcm he mentioned the names of the Duke of Richmond, the Duke of Devonshire, Earl Fitzwilliam, Lord Falkland, and Lord 1 3 ,:nscnby, concluded by stating that he would not trevas:s further upon their indulgence, but would reserve to himself the right of at a future stage of thr , Bill, evidence to prove the various tarts which he had stAed in the course of his speech. ) Lord BROUGHAM observed, that as the Learned Coun sel in his very able speech had suggested the probability of tendering evidence, he thought that their Lordships might go into Committee pro forma, so that if their Lordships might be so disposed they could suffer evidence to be given. He did not think it was a matter of course permitting evidence to be given at the bar. Lord GLENELG proposed that their Lordships should go into Commiace upon the Bill. Lord BRO UG II Alll said that he by no means intended to offer any vexatious or harassing opposition to a Bill respect ing which he differed so widely from so jnany of their Lord ships. He should reserve the re.narks he haq to make to d future stage of the Bill. The Earl of RIPON felt it necessary to retrark, in con sequence of the observations that had been made at th,? bar, that the House of Assembly had suspended the Constitution, and actually compel:ed them to adopt some measure of the kind. Their Lordships then went into Committee, The Bill ptissccl through Committee. It was reported without amend- inents, and the third readily!, fi>ed for thur;day next. The Earl of ABERDEEN wished to kno . ,v if it were in tenled to wait the proclaiming of the Act uatil the Noble Lord appointed by the Government had gone out to Canada; or whether Sir John Colborne was to Ilse a discretional power in proclaiming it? Lord GL ENELG replied that it was intended to confide the powers given by the Act to Sir John Colborne before the arrival of the Noble Lord appointed by the Government. The house then adjourned. We understand that the 'different carriers by wacr from Manchester to Hull and Goole, have advanced the rate of freight 2d. per cwt., in consequence, as they state in ,a circular addressed to the principal Shipping houses, " of the important change which will shortly be produced by the Man chester and Leeds Railway, now rapidly advancing to com pletion, which, if it do not altogeJicr deStroy our trade; will at least to a very great extent cuLtail it, and throw upon our hands a large and valuable stock of boats,. &c. unsuited for general purposes."—Times. MISS MARTINEAU'S PERSONAL NARRATIVE. —The distinguished success of Miss Martineau's first has pro duced, this s: cond work cn America, which consists of the liglter snd more anecdatical portion or her impressiJas and experiences of Adventures, sletches of life and scenery, and pictures of women and men ; of all the books in tjic Itltiglish !anguage on her subject, her society in America is iacompara ,a,r,charelyq,t:e(sitned2 bly the ablest and most instructive, and we can conscientiously say of her new work, " Retrospect ,of Western_ Travel," that' it distances all her competitors• in the qualities which yield ~,Dideakycsil—s, Esq. e, ILz„,. amusement and delight —London and Tire . stnvnster Review. LITERARY :\NNOUNCEM:: I. Memoirs of Joseph to state that tlie new work by .1. Fenimore Cooper, Esq , author 1 , 7 e7; i t I N : V ( i e of " The Pilot," " The Spy," vols. Foot 8vo), is published this day by Mr: Beniley, New Burlington -street, Pub isher in 'Oidinary to her.Maj , sty ; who ) author of " The Pickwick - Paper=," "Oliver Twist," tt,,, e ; with' ‘ G ri r l i l ma a l l d s i o , e i d u i b te li d sh bv h C ' ha a rle fe s nu merous characteristic iilustratious by George Cruikshaak, 2 vols. post Sea. 11. Vienna and the Austrians, by . Mrs. Trollope, author of " Domestic Manners of the Americans," " The Vicar of Wrexhill," &e. ; with fourteen engravings, c. . 2 vols. evo. S W ■